The Soul of a Dragon
by Vivi-ntvg
Summary: When Astrid challenged Hiccup to hypnotise her, he didn't expect to succeed. And he definitely didn't expect her to wake up believing she was a dragon. Hiccstrid fluff set in RTTE (no spoilers though).
1. Victory?

Hiccup was so absorbed in the book in his hands, he didn't even notice Astrid knocking on the door of his hut and coming in until she was right next to him.

"What's that you're reading?" she asked over his shoulder, making him jump.

"What the- oh, hi, Astrid. Don't you knock?"

"I did", she smirked.

"Oh..." He rubbed his neck awkwardly. "Sorry, I guess I was too focused."

"So, what's that?"

"Oh, it's just one of the books we found today. Most of that stuff was useless, but I managed to find some information about a few of the new dragons we've seen." They'd been exploring a new island that day, and they'd discovered a strange library hidden inside a cave. Fishlegs had insisted on bringing back its contents, since nobody seemed to live there. Hiccup showed her what was on the page: a full picture of the Deathsong, and something about its siren call, although the dragon didn't have a name. He pointed to a pile of books by his feet. "I've yet to go through all of that."

Astrid bent and picked one of them. " _The art of hypnosis_ ", she read aloud. "Sure brings back memories."

Hiccup laughed. "For all of us, except Fishlegs. I never told him the full story of what happened. He needs to sleep in the night after all."

The blonde laughed as well, then went on. " _Anyone can be hypnotised, and anyone can hypnotise other people if they put their minds to it._ Yeah, right. I'm pretty sure the twins couldn't hypnotise someone if their lives depended on it." She paused, then looked at the other rider with a smirk that he had seen many times before, when they had races and dragon trick competitions. "I bet _you_ couldn't hypnotise _me_."

He raised an eyebrow. "Is that a challenge?"

She didn't reply, but it was enough of an answer for him.

"Give me that." He took the book from her hands and skimmed through the page. "It seems pretty straightforward to me."

"That's what an Outcast guard said about training a Deadly Nadder. Right before nearly getting sliced by one of its spines."

"Well, let's find out then, shall we?" He looked at the writing once more. "Let's see. You have to do everything I say, apparently."

"Why would I do that?" Hiccup gave her a look. "Alright, fine."

"So," he began. "First of all, you have to relax. Close your eyes and take deep breaths."

"Now you're sounding like Fishlegs."

" _Astrid._ Are we doing this or not?"

"Yeah, whatever." She did as he asked and started to breathe more deeply, and at his instruction, she counted: inhale for two seconds, then exhale for four. After a while of this, he decided to continue with the next part.

"Now, empty your mind. Don't think at all." He tried to make his usually nasal voice sound lower, more relaxing, although he felt pretty silly doing so. He waited for a few seconds, then told her, "Imagine the sea, and the waves. Coming in and out. In... and out. In... and out... Slowly in... and they wash over all your worries... and then they're out, erasing everything with them..." Astrid's face was blank, he noticed, and suddenly her knees buckled and she would've hit the floor had he not caught her at the last second. To his surprise, she didn't even stir, and he realised with astonishment that she was hypnotised.

 _It actually worked_ , he thought, as he lowered her to the floor. He hadn't believed he'd be able to do it, not that he would ever confess that to Astrid. _Now what?_ He looked at the book again _._

 _While under hypnosis, a person will do anything that is asked of them, and they can remember many things that are buried in their subconsciousness. They can also be made to forget particular things, or to behave in certain ways once they are woken,_ the page read. None of that was very useful. There was nothing he needed the girl to remember or to forget, and as for making her do things, he was pretty sure if he made her do something weird or embarrassing, she'd find out somehow and beat him to death. But he'd need something to prove to her she'd actually been hypnotised, he thought. While he wondered what that might be, he heard some explosions nearby.

 _The twins_ , Hiccup thought. He should probably go check what they were doing, and quickly too, but he wasn't going to leave her in this state. Who knew what might happen if, gods forbid, Snotlout came in and found her like that? Given what had happened with Thor Bonecrusher and the crush the black-haired Viking always had on Astrid, Hiccup wouldn't be surprised if he tried to make her fall in love with him. The image was quite disturbing, mostly because she'd always violently rejected Snotlout, but a small part of Hiccup (one that he refused to acknowledge) knew that it was because he'd always dreamed that one day maybe _he'd_ be the one she'd fall for.

He picked up the book again to find out how to bring her out of it, but to his dismay, it said that people hypnotised with the particular method he'd just used couldn't be brought back until ten minutes had passed. So what did he do now?

As he pondered, he looked at Toothless. The dragon had approached the sleeping girl and was sniffing her curiously, probably wondering why she'd suddenly gone limp. He bumped her face with his snout and cooed, trying to get her to wake up. When she didn't, he looked up at his rider with concern.

"It's OK, bud. She'll be out of it soon. If only we could make sure nobody finds her like this while I go out..." He trailed off, the Night Fury's protective attitude towards his friend giving him an idea. "You know what? Why don't you look after her and make sure nobody comes in here? Can you do that, bud?" Toothless rumbled in agreement. "Alright then." He laid her on his bed, and his dragon went to stand guard by her, hiding her with his wings. "Don't let anyone see her." Confident nobody would find her before he came back, he left to find out what problem the twins had caused now. Luckily Astrid had come by foot, else someone might notice Stormfly standing beside his hut and guess she was there.

* * *

Toothless looked at the girl with a mixture of curiosity and worry. He knew his rider cared for her a lot, and he'd seen her just collapse. He bumped her with his snout again, but there was still no reaction. Suddenly he heard someone coming, and since his friend had just left, that couldn't be him. He spread his wings further, making sure no one could see the girl. The fat man, one of his rider's friends, walked in talking, and stopped when he realised there wasn't anyone there. He then looked at the dragon.

"Oh, hi, Toothless. I though Hiccup was here". Then he noticed the two stacks by Hiccup's desk. "Oh, are those some of today's books? I've been reading some of them. There was actually some information on Night Furies in one. It didn't say anything we haven't discovered, though." He stepped closer to the black dragon, who just ensured the girl still couldn't be seen. "It mentioned that you are one of the fastest and most powerful dragons, and how your plasma blasts hit with the force of an avalanche." As he noticed how Toothless protected Hiccup's seemingly empty bed, he chuckled. "Guess what they didn't know is that Night Furies can be really protective. And you're seriously loyal to Hiccup, aren't you? Oh! I'll bet he did the hand thing on you first." He walked back to the door. "Anyway, I'll see if I can find Hiccup. Weird that he'd leave without you."

Unbeknownst to either Fishlegs or Toothless, Astrid's ears had picked up everything the Viking had said when standing right next to the dragon, and her brain was processing it...

* * *

Hiccup walked back into his hut, closing the door, and immediately went to where Toothless was hiding Astrid. The dragon moved aside to reveal the still sleeping blonde. "Did anyone figure out what was going on?" He warbled, and he took that as a no. "Okay, let's wake her up, then." He picked up the book and read the instructions. "Astrid, when I say 'now', you'll wake up." He realised he still didn't have evidence of his success, but then again she'd been standing when he'd hypnotised her, and she probably wouldn't remember being carried to his bed. That would have to be enough.

"Three... two... one... _now_." The other teen blinked, then her eyes opened and she looked around.

"Astrid? Are you alright?"

She looked at him for a few seconds, a strange, searching stare, almost as if she didn't recognise him, and then she did something he would've never expected: she jumped off the bed and away from him, crawling on all fours, and _growled_ at him. Growled in the same way dragons did, not humans.

"Astrid? This isn't funny." He tried to approach her, but she growled louder, so he stopped. There was something very strange in her eyes that gave him pause, a mistrust and readiness to strike that he'd seen many times before, but never directed at him. She actually thought he was going to harm her; this wasn't her joking. What had happened?

Toothless, who'd been watching her, slowly padded over to her, and to Hiccup's surprise, she let him. The Night Fury bumped Astrid's temple, and in return, she rubbed her head against the dragon's neck. A suspicion began forming in Hiccup's mind, for her behaviour reminded him a lot of the way dragons greeted one another, so to test his idea, he did the one thing he knew would show him if his theory was right.

He took a step closer to her, and Astrid turned to him and growled again. This time he held out his hand, then looked away and waited. After a few seconds, he felt soft hair on his hand. Sure enough, when he turned forward again, there she was, still standing on all fours and pressing her head against his hand. He lightly caressed the bangs on her forehead, and she rumbled in the same way Toothless did when he rubbed him.

"Oh gods."

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry, the actual fluff is coming next chapter, which hopefully I'll have posted by Saturday. Thanks for reading!**


	2. Mind versus body

**A/N: I'll be honest with you. I don't know if I'm any good at writing humor. I tried my best with this chapter, but ultimately the point of this story when I started it was fluff, so I apologise if this isn't funny. Hope you still enjoy it.**

* * *

Hiccup sat in his desk, his mind racing. Outside, a snowstorm was raging, the sky was white and it was impossible to see what lay a metre in front of you. However, he was glad for that: no one would venture out in this weather, which meant it was highly unlikely that anyone would come here and discover the strange spectacle that was Astrid, who was currently in the middle of licking herself (so far, she'd kept to her arms and torso, which was lucky; if she went lower... his cheeks blushed at the thought). Toothless was resting close by, though he was looking away from her, as if he knew he had to respect her privacy in that moment.

As soon as Hiccup had realised what was going on, he'd run to the book, hoping to find some way of returning her to normal, but that hope was crushed when he learned that, apparently, removing the effects of something that had happened under hypnosis was far more complicated than the original process, which was why it wasn't explained in the book. He'd understood then that he should probably bring Astrid to Gothi; the village elder had experience on the matter and would know what to do. The problem, however, was that, since Astrid believed herself to be a dragon, she'd most likely try to fly and wouldn't accept riding on Stormfly's back, or even going with him on Toothless. He imagined her crawling on the deck of his hut, jumping on all fours again and again and wondering why she couldn't take off. The thought made him snort with amusement, although his predicament was far from funny right now.

A soft bump against his leg snapped him back to reality, and he found Astrid looking up at him from the floor with hopeful eyes. He sighed and began caressing her head; her purring filled the room. Curiosity got the best of him, and his hand began going lower, until he rubbed her neck just below her ear. The second he did that, she fell by his feet. It was such a weird sight: the mighty Astrid Hofferson, who was always so tough, reduced to a purring mess on the floor. He _really_ hoped Snotlout wouldn't find her like this. Not just because of what he might do, but because, should the girl find out, she'd definitely kill him, and Hiccup as well for letting Snotlout see her like that.

There was a sudden weight on his lap, and he found she'd placed her head on his thighs, still giving him that wide-eyed look. He'd never even imagined she was capable of putting on a puppy face, yet here she was, doing exactly that, and he found he was unable to resist it, so he started caressing her tresses again. As he did, it occurred to him that, in the last hour, he'd probably been touching her hair _way_ more than it was appropriate for friends, but it was just impossible to stop himself when she was practically begging him for it. He knew it wasn't really her, but it didn't matter as he ran his fingers through those soft, blond locks. Or at least the ones he could reach, given that most of her hair was held back in her braid. For just an instant, he thought of letting it loose, before he scolded himself for even coming up with that. Astrid was his friend; he couldn't do that to her. Of course, a small part of him mused, if he one day ended up marrying her, he would get to see and touch all of those golden locks... but that was no more than wishful thinking.

"What are we going to do, bud?" Toothless looked up at him and warbled softly. "We can't leave now, but tomorrow we need to be able to get her to Gothi somehow. She probably won't be able to ride Stormfly..." He trailed off as he realised he'd forgotten something vital. "Stormfly! She's probably worried sick about Astrid! Can you go to her, bud? Let her know she's alright?" His dragon rumbled, then got to his feet. Hiccup started to get up when he noticed the girl's head was still on his lap. She drew back when she helped him get up, warbling disappointedly. "It's okay", he reassured her. "I'm not leaving you." She seemed to brighten at that, and part of him couldn't help feeling proud that she wanted him to stay with her.

He walked to the door and unlocked it so that Toothless could get out and go to Astrid's hut. It really had been a good idea to place it within walking distance of his. He watched his dragon go for a few seconds, then closed the door to stop the cold from getting in. When he turned around, he found she was staring attentively at something by his feet (well, foot). Looking down, he saw a bit of snow had come in. She crawled towards the little mountain and sniffed it for a few seconds. Then, getting some of it in her mouth, she threw her head back, swallowing with a bob he'd heard many times before, but never from the throat of a human.

"You must be hungry." She looked up and cooed at him. "There's some fish over here, let me get it." Her eyebrows rose at his words, and he suspected her ears would've probably perked up, if she'd been able to move them.

He walked to a corner of the hut, where he kept some snacks for Toothless, and settled on some smoked salmon. It was one of his dragon's favourites; maybe she'd enjoy it as well. He grabbed the basket and pushed it, making its contents drop to the floor. Astrid purred and then happily run (or rather, moved as fast as one can when you're moving on all fours) towards the food.

He should've seen it coming, of course. Dragons didn't use their paws to eat, after all. She lowered her mouth to the fish, just like she'd done with the snow, and tried to swallow it whole, which made her start choking. Hiccup immediately crouched behind her and slapped her back with as much force as he could, trying to help her get it out. After a few seconds, she managed to get the fish, still whole, out of her system. She looked down at it and made a disappointed noise.

"Don't worry", he reassured her. Getting up, he went to his chest and grabbed his knife, then proceeded to cut the fish to pieces. He was going to drop them on the floor by her, but then another idea occurred to him. He tossed the piece of fish in the air and, as he expected, Astrid jumped forward and caught it with her teeth before it hit the floor. Repeating the motion, he successfully fed her most of the salmon contained in the basket. (Toothless wouldn't be happy about that.)

As she finished, he sat on the floor and watched her, wondering how she'd feel about not being able to eat by herself. Suddenly, she began choking, but before he could try to get up and help her, she regurgitated some of the fish she'd just eaten. Hiccup didn't understand at first, but when she sat back and looked down, then at him, he understood. Gods, he was going to have to do _that_ again, wasn't he? As if once hadn't been enough. He took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself, then took some of the pieces in his hand (trying not to cringe) and swallowed. It had to be said, Astrid's spit was far less disgusting than Toothless' had been. Most likely, he thought, because it was more like his own. It then occurred to Hiccup that something similar (minus the fish) happened during prolonged kissing. It sounded kind of gross when he thought about it, but judging by the enthusiasm with which couples did it, it clearly wasn't when you were in the situation. He couldn't help thinking about his own experience with the matter. When Astrid had kissed him, it had always been brief, but he'd definitely enjoyed it. Maybe one day they'd get to kiss longer... He blushed at the thought.

The sound of Toothless bumping his head against the door brought him out of his embarrassment. Opening the door, he let the Night Fury in, then closed it and turned to his dragon friend. (Toothless, not Astrid).

"Thanks for that, bud". He cooed in response, then went up to Astrid, noticing the fish on the floor and giving his rider an accusatory glare.

"Hey, don't be like that, bud! It was just one time!" Not entirely satisfied, Toothless grunted, then started eating. Astrid, meanwhile, walked up to his forge, staring at it curiously.

"You want to see that working? Bud, turn it on." His dragon turned away from his food and shot a blast at the coals, lighting them. After looking at the flames with fascination for a few seconds, the Viking girl raised herself up until she was kneeling. She seemed to take a deep breath, and then she suddenly fell back on her hands, wheezing as she did. For a second, Hiccup thought she was somehow still choking, but then she made a disappointed noise, and once again she got up before going back down, wheezing. Only then did he understand that she was trying to breathe fire.

"Uh... Astrid..." The teen turned to look at him, confusion evident in her eyes. He realised that she'd actually reacted to her name. Interesting. "You... you can't do that... It's, um..." He failed to find a reasonable explanation for why a dragon would suddenly lose its firepower, but he didn't need to, because it seemed that she somehow understood what was happening. She looked at him sadly, until Toothless – who'd been eating in the corner during that time- came up to her and rubbed his head against hers. He made a series of noises that Hiccup couldn't begin to comprehend, but apparently Astrid did, because she made other noises in reply.

After that, the male rider went to work in the forge, thinking about how he could get his friend to Berk, while the Night Fury and the girl played together, chasing each other (Astrid was surprisingly fast on her feet and hands) in the confined space of Hiccup's hut, "talking" all the time, and the sadness in her eyes seemed to diminish somehow. He really wished Stormfly was here (the Nadder would definitely enjoy playing with her rider that way), but they couldn't bring her here if they had to keep Astrid's presence in his place a secret.

At one point, he went to his chest and started moving things around, trying to find a tool he needed, when he stumbled upon a little bag that made him realise the solution to his problem was a very simple one. How hadn't he thought of that before? He opened the bag and spilled part of its contents in his hand. It was his supply of dragon nip, the one he kept in case the dragons needed to be calmed down somehow. The smell of it quickly filled the whole place, and soon both dragon and Viking-believing-herself-to-be-a-dragon collapsed on the floor, rumbling. He smiled. This should be easy, he thought. He'd just have to make sure Toothless wasn't affected by the herb while flying, and he could get her to Berk. Maybe he should make her a tea.

Not long after, he decided to go to bed. The weirdness of this whole situation was getting to him, and it'd be good to escape it, if only for a few hours. Besides, they'd have to leave early tomorrow if they didn't want to be seen. Hopefully, Gothi would be able to help them. He yawned and bade the other two good night, before curling up in his bed. As he saw Toothless make his customary fire circle, he looked at Astrid and wondered if he should find her a place, but it seemed his dragon had already thought of that, for the girl went and curled up next to him, resting her head against Toothless' tail. Satisfied, he turned off the lamp and went to sleep.

* * *

Hiccup jumped upright in the middle of the night, confused. The snow had abated and the sky would definitely be clear by the following morning, which was great since they couldn't take off in the middle of a storm, but now lightning and thunder had taken the place of snow. Not that it mattered; they would also be gone by tomorrow. He heard a soft whimper and noticed Astrid by his bed, looking miserably at the lights dancing in the sky. She made the noise again, and he understood this was what had made him wake up. For whatever reason, she seemed to be afraid of the storm. (He was struck with the irony that her dragon was called Stormfly and yet _she_ was afraid of storms, at least when she was like this.)

"It's OK, Astrid" he told her quietly, so as not to disturb Toothless, who was still sleeping nearby. "Does it scare you?" Her cooing was enough of an answer. Unsure what to do, he began caressing her hair, since she clearly liked that. She hummed in response, and then to his surprise climbed on his bed. He scooted backwards towards the wall so she could have some more space, but she just followed him until her body was caging him against the wall. Once she'd found a comfortable position, she looked up as if expecting something. He began petting her hair again, and she sank her head against his chest and began to rumble. After a while, the sound stopped, and he knew she'd found sleep again.

Now, however, _he_ was the one finding it difficult to rest. He couldn't, not with her so close to him; his heart was hammering against his chest, so much so he was surprised Astrid could sleep when she was right next to it, and his mind was busy trying to catalogue how he felt about this situation. Part of him, the same part that had imagined getting to see her loose hair, was thinking about how nice it would be to go to bed like this every night, delighted by the warmth of her body seeping into his, and urged him to put his arms around her and see if that was even better. This suggestion, though, was being argued against by the other part of him, which was going through what might happen if anyone found them like this, and demanded that he get separated from her. In the end, he simply didn't do anything; his mind eventually calmed down, and he drifted off to sleep with Astrid curled up against him.

* * *

 **A/N: The next chapter will be the last. I don't know exactly when I'm going to upload it, but it should be up by Friday. Thanks for reading!**


	3. Answers

**A/N: It turns out that when you've spent two weeks studying for an exam, your brain is far less willing to study for another one and much more willing to be inspired for fanfiction, so here you go.**

 **P.S. I considered splitting this chapter because it ended up being much longer than I'd anticipated, but I decided it'd be nice to have an extra long chapter as an ending. Enjoy!**

 **P.S.S. THOR DAMMIT, FANFICTION. STOP TAKING DOWN MY COVER IMAGE.**

* * *

Hiccup woke up well rested. For an instant, he forgot everything that had happened the previous day and just enjoyed the warmth of his bed, but he was quickly brought back to reality by the feeling of warm air blowing against his neck. He looked down and, sure enough, there was Astrid, whose head had somehow shifted during the night, and now her face was just under his head, her lips almost but not quite touching his throat. He swallowed, but this only got his Adam's apple even closer to her, and he felt goose bumps in that tiny section of his skin. Remembering his internal debate from the previous night, he decided he should probably put an end to this situation before he did something stupid.

"Astrid?" He gently shook her by the shoulders, not sure how he was supposed to proceed. He'd never had to wake up a dragon before, after all; Toothless was always up well before he was. However, even if Astrid were to react violently, she wouldn't be able to hurt him. Not like a dragon could, anyway. When she didn't respond, he tried again, putting more force in his shaking, and she grumbled. He let go just in case, and after a few seconds she opened her eyes and looked up sleepily at him.

She appeared confused for some moments, but then her face brightened, which relieved him. (Although he didn't think hypnosis wore off with sleep, he'd been slightly afraid that it might, and if they woke up in this position she'd kill him.) The next second, though, she did something he definitely wasn't expecting: her face rose up to his, and she pressed her forehead against his and stayed in that position, closing her eyes and rumbling.

Hiccup didn't dare to move. She was _way too close_ to him, and her breath, which had been on his neck before, now hit his lips, almost as if she was daring him to have the courage to bridge the gap between them. He was definitely tempted, but knew he shouldn't; she wasn't herself after all, and he doubted she would've ever done something like this in her right mind. Then again, she _had_ been the one to kiss him before... but it had been very different, he thought. This was far more intimate than anything he'd ever experienced, which wasn't helping at all, because it just made the pull he felt towards her much stronger. Just as he began to unconsciously move forward, he was saved from going against all his instincts by Astrid, who opened her eyes and mercifully got up and away from him. He exhaled, his body suddenly going cold, missing her warmth.

He got up as well and noticed Toothless in the corner, looking at him with an amused expression, as if he understood exactly what his rider had been about to do. Which he probably did, given how well his dragon knew him.

"Well, Astrid, time to make you that tea." The girl gave him a curious look, maybe because she had no idea what tea was, then sat on the floor and started preening. He immediately looked away to give her privacy and set about doing his job. As he retrieved the dragon nip from his chest, mindful to keep it covered so as not to knock Toothless out, he wondered about what had just happened. Why had she done that? He had pressed his own forehead to his dragon's in the past, but he hadn't known that was a common thing. Maybe it was a dragon's way to show affection for a human or something like that. In any case, the whole thing had been pretty... _intense_ ¸ and he fervently hoped she wouldn't remember it.

He was bringing the kettle to the fire when out of the corner of his eye he noticed Astrid tensing. He turned to her, only to see her staring fixatedly at a spot on the floor that was illuminated and moving. Looking around, he realised it was the reflection of the sunlight on the kettle he was holding, and though he probably shouldn't do it, he couldn't resist. He began swinging the kettle, and as expected, the girl began jumping around in an attempt to catch it. Every time the little spot disappeared beneath her hands, he'd move the kitchen utensil just a bit and send her running again. After a few minutes of this, he decided he'd made her lose too much dignity already and went over to the fire to finish the tea.

Once it was ready, he poured it on a bowl and brought it over to her. "Here you go. Enjoy." She sniffed it curiously, then lowered her head and began drinking it. When she was done, she purred with satisfaction for a few moments, before her eyelids dropped and she fell heavily to the floor.

"Alright bud, let's get on with this." Grabbing her waist, he pulled her towards Toothless, who was already preparing to take flight, and heaved her onto the saddle. After securing her, he packed a bottle of the tea, just in case she woke up, then got on his dragon and they were off to Berk.

* * *

The journey to his home was pretty uneventful, thankfully. Astrid woke up once, but before she could notice her surroundings, he'd practically shoved the tea down her throat, and she was out again. He hoped none of the other riders would notice anything was amiss; he'd left a note in his room saying that Stormfly was sick and he and Astrid needed to get an ingredient from Berk for her as soon as possible. That would be enough of an explanation for Snotlout and the twins, but Fishlegs might very well check the dragon book and find nothing. Oh well, he thought, it wouldn't be such a bad thing if his second closest friend knew. He wouldn't tell anyone for fear of incurring in Astrid's wrath. Still, he didn't plan to tell him unless it was absolutely necessary.

The moment Berk was in sight, he made Toothless hide between the clouds, and he didn't get down until they were directly over Gothi's house, at which point the dragon pulled his wings and gently lowered himself. If he went any faster, he'd make his customary high-pitched noise and any Vikings who were awake would soon know that Hiccup had arrived. This way, however, there was a chance they might just think it was a random dragon. Once the Night Fury landed in Gothi's deck, Hiccup quickly removed the sleeping girl from the saddle and dragged her over to the door. He knocked, and soon after the village elder opened it, looking surprised at the sight in her threshold.

"Hello, Gothi. We _really_ need your help."

* * *

After Hiccup explained to Gothi what had happened, the woman had told him to wait outside while she examined Astrid. He fidgeted as the minutes passed. What would she tell him? She had to have a solution; if she didn't... He didn't even want to contemplate that scenario. His unease only grew as some villagers began to go out and about, and though they were minding their own business for now, some of them were bound to come up here at some point, which made the likelihood of them getting caught higher. Finally, Gothi opened the door and motioned for him to come in, which he did as fast as he could.

"How is she? Can you get her back to normal?" In response, the elderly woman pointed her staff at him, then at Astrid, who was chewing on something in the corner. When he didn't react, she repeated the gesture, and he thought he understood.

"Wait, what? You want... _me_ to do it?" She nodded, and he gulped. "But... I don't know how." She pointed to an open book on a table, and he picked it up. "When removing the effect of hypnosis", he read out loud, "it's easier if the person who originally carried it out is the one to do it, as the hypnotised person's mind is familiar with it." Comprehension dawned upon him, and he gave Gothi an understanding look. She used her staff to point to a specific section of the page, and there he found detailed instructions as to what he was meant to do.

"Astrid?" The girl looked up at him from her food, and he smiled involuntarily. "Listen to me. I want you to close your eyes. Now, start breathing deeply, without thinking..." He wasn't sure she actually understood everything he was saying, but it seemed that he somehow managed to convey his meaning to her, for she did everything he told her to, if not exactly the way he was saying. Soon enough, she collapsed on the floor, and he looked at the book again. After attentively reading the instructions, he walked over to her, and placing a hand on her forehead, began to speak.

"You're Astrid, and you're _not_ a dragon. You're a human, and you ride a dragon, a Nadder called Stormfly who you love." He paused, and then added almost as an afterthought, "And you're my best friend." He had to bite his tongue to keep himself from adding, "And you're amazing." Gothi might misinterpret that. He took a deep breath, then took his hand away and snapped his fingers by her ear.

Astrid blinked, then opened her eyes and looked around. Hiccup waited for what seemed like hours, though he knew it could only have been a few seconds, before she turned to him and asked, "What are we doing here?" He sighed with relief.

"It's a long story."

* * *

Of course, he should've known that explanation couldn't hold her for long. As soon as they were out of the elder's house and she saw only Toothless was there, she spoke up.

"You said it was a long story" she commented, as she climbed behind him.

"Yeah..." he began, evasively. He'd been so preoccupied with not being able to get her back to normal, he hadn't actually thought about what was going to happen – what he was going to tell her- if he actually succeeded. He'd have to decide what she had to know and what she didn't before she realised he was hiding something. It would only get worse if she did.

"Well, it's a long ride from here to the Edge. We have time. So talk."

And so he began telling her most of what had happened, from the moment he realised he'd been able to hypnotise her, to keeping her in his hut to prevent the other riders from knowing, to giving her dragon nip tea to keep her calm. He left quite a few details out, such as the cuddling and his touching her hair, and he tried not to let it show how funny some of the things she'd done, like choking on a whole fish, had been when seen from the outside. Better to let her have her pride, he decided. Astrid, however, clearly noticed this, because once he was done with his narration, she asked, "Is that it?"

"Does it seem little to you?" he asked, trying to sound offended at her for making fun of his efforts and concern for her.

"No, but it seems like you're hiding things." Hiccup tensed slightly at her words, and he could imagine her victorious smile. "Fine, don't tell me. By the way, what are we going to tell the other riders?"

"What do you mean 'what are we going to tell them?' I told you I left-"

"Yeah, you said we were going to get something for Stormfly, but even the twins and Snotlout are going to notice we didn't exactly bring anything back with us."

His eyes widened at her words; he hadn't even thought of that. "Oops."

"Never mind. Let's just stop at the next island we see and... pick up a weird rock or something."

"Good thinking."

That's how they ended up with a blue-tinted rock that Astrid found by a stream. Its colour was somewhat similar to Stormfly's scales, and they decided that would make it look like it was meant for a Nadder. When they arrived and showed the others the "skystone", like the girl dubbed it, everyone was convinced it was authentic and left them alone, although Fishlegs did look a bit doubtful but didn't pursue the issue. Afterwards, Astrid went to her hut, clearly to greet her dragon who must've been missing her, and Hiccup told everyone he was going to study the Eye, but as soon as he reached his hut, he mounted Toothless and flew off. With everything he and Astrid had been through, he needed to reconsider a few things regarding... _them_.

* * *

Astrid flew around the island, deep in thought. Stormfly's reaction when she had seen her had been more than enough to show her she'd definitely been... well, not herself, for quite a long time. Hiccup's tale had that much of truth, at least, but she was pretty sure he was hiding stuff from her. She'd probably made quite the spectacle, she thought, and she didn't doubt there had to be _something_ he had done, like telling her to fly, maybe not even with the intent of making fun of her, but out of pure curiosity, that now seemed inappropriate to him (though that didn't mean he hadn't made her do something solely for entertaining himself). However, if it had just been that, he would've looked slightly guilty and maybe afraid, as if he knew she'd punch him for it. Instead, it had been clear to her he'd been feeling much more than simple guilt; he looked ashamed, like he'd done something he _really_ wasn't supposed to or that would embarrass _him¸_ not her. And she didn't understand it.

It was hard to imagine herself acting like a dragon, but obviously it had happened. She tried to recall any memories of that, but no matter how much she concentrated, she couldn't. The last thing the girl remembered before Gothi's house was Hiccup giving her instructions to relax; after that, there was just a huge gap in her memory, and it unsettled her to think she had no clue of what had happened in all those hours of her life. No doubt, Hiccup had seen her in some... _unfortunate_ situations, she mused, but at least she could count on him not telling anyone. That part actually bothered her much less than the absence of memories; she trusted him, after all. Even if he was the one to cause the problem in the first place (she still couldn't believe he'd actually managed to hypnotise her).

As she went past a cliff on the side of the island opposite their base, she noticed a black spot and a small figure next to it. Hiccup, she realised. Yes, there was _definitely_ something more to all of this, if he'd come all the way out here to be alone. Maybe she should leave him be, but she was curious (and concerned). Besides, this was about _her_ , probably, and the things he (or she) had done. So she guided Stormfly towards the place where Hiccup sat. As she landed, he turned around to look at her and smiled for an instant, before his expression fell slightly.

"We need to talk", she stated simply as she came to sit by his side, scratching Toothless on the way, who got up to play with Stormfly (and maybe to leave them alone). He only sighed in response.

"Astrid, I already told you what happened."

"Not all of it. Look, I don't care if it's embarrassing, or if you did something to make fun of me, just tell me, I promise I won't hurt you." He raised an eyebrow at her, and she corrected herself. "Not permanently, anyway. But seriously, there's something that's eating you up, and I need to know what it is. You can't have done something so horrible you can't even tell _me_ about it."

Hiccup didn't answer. He turned towards the sea, closing his eyes and breathing deeply, as if meditating what to do. Finally, he looked back at her, his face serious.

"It's not what I _did_ , specifically, Astrid. I mean, yeah. I may have done some things like making you jump after a small light." She lightly punched his arm, and he half-heartedly rubbed it, before continuing. "I may have watched you in some pretty... _undignified_ moments, like when you were preening." She almost punched him again, before deciding that hadn't been his fault at all. "But that's not the problem. It's just that... seeing you like that, it... It made me... _think_."

When it didn't seem like he was going to continue, she gently asked, "About what?"

"About..." He opened and closed his mouth several times, like a fish, looking for the words; in any other situation she would've laughed. Finally, he sighed again. "You... you were asking me to pet you."

"So?" It wasn't that big of a deal, she thought; her uncle Finn had petted her head when she was a little girl. He was family, of course, but that shouldn't make that big of a difference.

It was as if he'd read her mind, because he said, "You don't wear a helmet anymore, Astrid."

So what- oh. _Oh_. If she didn't have a helmet, then he'd touched her hair, and judging by his demeanour, it had happened a lot.

"Oh." She didn't have a better response.

"Yeah..." He looked towards the sea and rubbed his neck awkwardly. "Look, Astrid, I'm really, really sorry, but you were being pretty insistent, and... and-"

"It's okay" she cut him off, trying to spare him some of the awkwardness. No wonder he'd been feeling so guilty. "Social conventions weren't made for people who believe they are dragons, after all. "

Hiccup chuckled at that. "Clearly not." He sobered a moment later. "That's... not all, though."

She raised an eyebrow and waited for him to go on. After another few seconds of him gathering his thoughts, he did.

"There was a storm during the night. You were sleeping with Toothless, but then you got scared for some reason, and..."

It wasn't hard to see where this was going. She saw colour rising to his cheeks, and felt a similar blush creeping up her neck. "And I... went to your bed?"

"Yeah... And I thought at first you just wanted me to pet you or something, but then... you... climbed next to me..." Hiccup's face was the colour of his shirt now, but Astrid didn't think she looked much better. The fact that he'd touched her hair was one thing, but getting in his bed _with him_? That was too much embarrassment. She wondered for a moment if she should just throw him off the cliff now, but it wouldn't work; Toothless would come and save him. Besides, even if _she_ didn't remember the moment, his words would still haunt her. After a few moments filled with awkward silence, she spoke.

"And... did I stay there?" she asked as casually as she could, though she thought she knew the answer, if his flushed state was anything to go by.

"Yeah... the whole night." The blonde was surprised to see her friend's face turn to a more serious expression, as if he'd forgotten how embarrassing this whole deal was. As if he hadn't just told her they'd spent an entire night _sleeping together_. "And that's what got me thinking, mostly."

That wasn't the kind of response (both his words and his attitude) she would have expected, so she watched him closely as she asked, "About what?"

He turned to her, suddenly looking determined, which surprised Astrid, given that they'd just avoided eye contact during this whole exchange.

"About what I really want." And without another word, he leaned towards her and his lips met hers. For a few moments, she was too shocked to react, but then she decided she liked this. Although she'd no idea of what had motivated him to finally be the first to make a move, it didn't matter, since she'd been waiting for this for a long time, and her thoughts soon scattered as she returned his kiss with enthusiasm. Her hands reached up and tangled in his hair, pulling him closer, and he wound his arms around her waist in response. The few kisses they'd shared before had been in public, always brief and chaste. This was completely different; there was unbound passion in the way his lips crashed against hers, in the tightening of his arms around her, like he'd wanted this for a long time but hadn't dared to do it.

When her lungs began claiming for air, she pulled her head back just enough to look at him, and smiled. His eyes were still closed, and he opened them slowly, looking at her with wonder.

"So", she said teasingly, "what _do_ you really want?"

Hiccup's smile matched hers. "You." Astrid started to lean forward again, but he put his left hand on her lips, stopping her. "And everything that entails, not just this. I mean, this was... _amazing_. But I also want... I want to be _yours_. I want to wake up with you in the morning. I want to be able to touch your hair without worrying whether it's appropriate."

She wondered where he'd got the courage to speak like that, to lay his soul bare to her.

"In other words, you want to marry me". He blushed profusely and began stuttering, trying and failing to answer coherently. She laughed softly. "It's okay, I know it's too soon for that. But in the meantime, there's something else we can do." His cheeks somewhat less red, he gave her a confused look. "We can start dating. As in, _officially_ dating. And tell the others about it."

He seemed relieved, and slightly surprised, which gave her pause. Hadn't she made her feelings for him clear enough? Apparently not, if he still wasn't sure she liked him... However, she realised it wasn't so much a lack of confidence in _her_ as it was in himself. She had to remind herself he'd spent the majority of his life being cast out for not fitting in; it made sense that he'd have insecurity issues. Astrid accepted that as part of who he was, but she thought she probably needed to make it clear for him that she wasn't going anywhere. If he'd just put his heart in his sleeve for her, it was only fair she did the same.

"And by the way... when you do ask for my hand, you can be sure that the answer's going to be yes."

The pure joy that filled his face at her words lifted her heart. He leaned forward, but she was prepared this time and met him halfway, their lips colliding hungrily. As his hands trailed down her spine, she pushed her tongue forward and inside his mouth, tangling it with his. He made a surprised sound, but responded eagerly, and a struggle for dominance followed. When they parted for air again, he was beaming at her. Then he gave her a sarcastic smile.

"Glad I'll be marrying regular you, and not dragon-you. That would be complicated."

Oh, she was going to make him pay for that comment. She pounced on him and pushed him to the ground, pinning him there with her weight and placing her arms by his head. She leaned down until she was next to his ear.

"Oh", she whispered, "I'll show you just how _animalistic_ I can be." She didn't let him answer as she covered his mouth with hers.

* * *

 **And that's all, folks! I really appreciate all the love you've given this story. A huge thank you to all those who reviewed, followed and/or favourited this!**


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